


A Change of Heart, A Change of Place

by echoicdreamscape



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 16:35:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7471086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoicdreamscape/pseuds/echoicdreamscape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"Do you not want to be more than a tool? You need a purpose in life."</i>
</p><p>Samaritan Agent Root escapes a Sam she hates to find a Sam to love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a song to accompany this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ittDz81X28. I feel like this kind of badass song is what Root plays in her head on the way to murders.

Root’s heels click as she walks with a purpose to the Control Room. Mr. Greer has asked for her personally and she’s not one to keep him waiting. She feels her heart beat a little faster, excitement beginning to course through her veins. It’s almost time to right more wrongs, and her hands are the most capable for Samaritan’s jobs. She adjusts the black earwig in her left ear before opening the door.

“Ms. Groves,” Mr. Greer drawls, “it certainly is a pleasure to see you again.”

Root nods, unspeaking. She doesn’t particularly like Mr. Greer, but he is the executor of Samaritan’s will. He’s the one who assigns her missions, the opportunities to correct bad code. 

“There is a correction to be made. Senator Aiken Rand has been _eager_ in his quest for knowledge about ‘Research’. Samaritan has decided he must be eliminated.” Greer emphasizes eliminated, as if there’s any other option. Root suppresses an eye roll. This is another mission, she tells herself, another chance to make things right.

“Absolutely,” she replies, “I will eliminate the target.” She turns to leave. She can’t wait to hear Samaritan’s voice in her ear again.

Mr. Greer speaks one more time before she reaches the door. “And Ms. Groves, enjoy yourself.”

Root smirks to herself. She always does.

* * *

Sameen Shaw curses under her breath as she pats dirt off her jacket. The bomb she used to kill her number had a larger blast radius than she expected. As she climbs into the van, she spies her partner surreptitiously close his personal laptop. 

Shaw furrows her brow. “Working on a personal project on the job?”

Cole smiles uncertainly. “I may have done something bad.” Shaw sighs.

He continues. “Do you ever wonder where the numbers come from?” 

Shaw’s not ready for this conversation but Cole pushes onward.

Neither of them notices when the webcam on his laptop blinks.

_# Monitoring subjects…_

_# Deviant behavior detected…_

_# Reviewing asset: Shaw, Sameen_

_# Reviewing potential disruptor: Cole, Michael_

_# Analyzing…_

_# Analyzing…_

_# Contacting admin…_

* * *

Root is conflicted. She sits in a hole in the wall in Chinatown contemplating her previous mission. Killing Senator Rand had been easy enough. With Samaritan’s orders direct in her ear, it was no trouble to break into his town house and shoot him as he opened the front door. Clean and efficient. There would not be much of a mess for his family to clean up. 

The problem was afterwards, when she looked through his laptop before purging its hard drive. She had found no evidence of his looking into Research or Northern Lights or whatever the government was calling Samaritan these days. Instead, Rand had been part of an international drug ring. Of course he still deserved to die, but Samaritan lied. Her god had lied and she left the house with questions burning in her mind.

Why would Samaritan lie to her? Did it not trust her? Root had been a faithful operative for less than a year but she completed every mission with unparalleled enthusiasm. 

She stirred her cold bowl of noodles. Had it caught on to how it irked her when the curled wire of her earwig touched her neck? Had it caught on to her frustration of keeping her hair in a severe bun?

Had it caught on to her disdain for Mr. Greer and his “yes sir” bullshit?

Had it caught on to her complete inability to bear the lack of knowledge she was given when she was assigned a target? Root _needs_ information. She wants to know everything about her targets. She wants to make her own decisions. That’s why her job as a killer for hire was so fun. She gathered as much data as possible about her targets and got to plan how they died. With Samaritan she just follows orders blindly. 

Root thinks about her god. How it gave her life meaning. How it gave her the opportunity to fix the wrongs in the world. How she is one of the privileged people chosen specifically by the most intelligent and complicated system in the world to shape the world to its desires. 

She thinks about how she loves her god but hates working for it.

Root leaves the restaurant more confused than ever. She doesn’t know what to do.

* * *

“You are being given a special mission,” Greer informs her. “Samaritan will give you the details.” He clears the room and gives her a short backwards glance.

Root stares at the screen in rapt. “What would you like me to do for you?”

_Eliminate two targets._

_Deviant: Cole, Michael._

_Subject: Shaw, Sameen._

_Affiliation: ISA._

“ISA? Isn’t that under your jurisdiction?”

_Targets exhibited deviant behavior. Eliminate._

Root hesitates for a fraction of a second. Thoughts race through her mind. What did they do? Why is Shaw designated a subject but is to be killed anyway? Is she just as replaceable? She pushes these thoughts down.

“Your wish is my command.”

_# Analyzing behavior patterns…_

_# Conclusion reached._

_# Contacting asset: Rousseau, Martine._

“Your orders?”

" _Subject has failed the test of loyalty. Eliminate._ " 

* * *

Shaw and Cole park the van a few houses down from the target’s house. Wrapping a scarf around his mouth, Cole wonders aloud about their location. “Kind of weird for a terrorist to live in a white, upper class neighborhood.”

Shaw ignores him as she picks the lock to the door. “Stop asking all these questions, Cole. Research is never wrong.” Shaw pulls the front of her beanie down more snugly on her forehead and wills Cole to let this go.

The two walk up the stairs, guns at the ready. Shaw immediately gets the feeling that something is off. The house seems unoccupied…except for the laptop sitting on the dining table. 

“Watch my back,” she instructs Cole, focusing on the laptop. She frowns as she reads the emails on the open account.

“This laptop has emails…sent by us…” she muses aloud. “ _It’s a fucking set-_ ”

Someone kicks the front door open and Shaw’s eyes widen as the pounding of boots fills the house.

She manages to shoot the first two men who enter the kitchen in quick succession. “Fuck,” she mutters under her breath as she pulls another gun from the back of her waistband and tosses it to Cole, who had dropped his own in surprise. She wonders why the ISA doesn’t make sure even its tech nerds can fire a gun.

“Try to get out of here through a window,” she yells over the gunfire, taking cover behind the island in the kitchen.

“I’m not leaving you here, Shaw!”

Shaw only has one bullet left. 

The gunfire stops as a blonde woman walks into the kitchen and motions her platoon to halt. She smirks as she takes in the scene. 

“Agent Shaw,” she drawls with a cold British accent, “with your record I expected more out of you.”

Shaw is busy thinking of exit strategies to have a witty retort. Her eyes dart left and right, up and down.

The blonde notices and smirks more broadly. “I’m afraid you’ve run out of options-“

She stops when more gunfire erupts from behind them. Shaw takes this opportunity of distraction to turn back for half a second to gauge whether she can dive through the kitchen window.

Martine notices and moves to shoot her-

-but hits Cole, who pushes Shaw out of the way.

“What the-?”

Cole staggers and falls. He looks up at Shaw as he lays on the ground, body unable to move.

“Always trying to be the hero, huh?” Shaw’s voice is rough but emotionless. There isn’t anything she can do to save him.

“No,” he breathes out, “just yours.” Before she can watch the life go out of his eyes, she looks up to see a flash of movement. Another woman has joined the scene. A woman who seems to have taken out all of the blonde’s men.

“Martine,” the woman says through clenched teeth, “I should have known.”

The blonde hasn’t dropped her smirk. “Ms. Groves, how fortunate I am to rid the world of you and this other deviant. Samaritan doesn’t take kindly to betrayers.”

This blonde sure gets distracted easily. Shaw quickly fires her last bullet at the women and turns to sprint towards the kitchen window. She leaps and feels shattered glass puncture her hands, arms, and face. Rolling to her feet and groaning all the while, she climbs over the fence to the neighbor’s yard. No one should be able to catch her now. Whoever this Samaritan is, they’re going to be furious at the blonde for letting her escape.

Root gasps as she clutches her shoulder. Agent Shaw shot her! She’s been shot by her targets before, but the occurrences are few and far between.

Martine turns and points her gun between Root’s eyes. 

“No more chitchat. This ends now.”

Suddenly, Root hears a crackling in her earwig.

“ _Drop down. Knife at 2 o’clock. Throw at right hand. Run. Exit front door._ ” The voice is feminine, but it’s a mixture of soundbytes. Root doesn’t have time to think about it.

She practically bellyflops onto the floor, watching Martine’s eyes widen and mouth open in confusion. She uses the momentary distraction to pick up the knife on the floor that lays next to a dead operative’s hand. Martine moves her arm downward to shoot. Root flings the knife at Martine’s gun hand and stands up as Martine drops the gun with a cry of pain. Root sprints out the front door as Martine begins to recover from the shock.

“ _Car at 10 o’clock. Drive to 3940 East Palmer Drive._ ”

Root runs to the car. “Who are you?”

“ _I am your only hope._ ”

“For what?”

She gets no response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mysterious entity who helped Root escape from Martine was able to see what was happening through the laptop on the dining table. We'll learn more about this entity in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Root and the Machine have a talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSJtt4RG7jI&list=RDZSJtt4RG7jI

The brakes screech as Root skids to a stop outside an unassuming house in the suburbs. Root instinctively looks around for cameras and doesn’t find any. 

“What am I supposed to do now?” she asks into the air. It’s automatic for her at this point, since Samaritan always responds. Well, used to always respond. 

The GPS in the car speaks, startling her. _”Enter the house._ ”

“I’m not doing anything until you tell me exactly who you are and what I’m doing here.”

_”Police officer will drive by in thirty seconds. Enter the house. Key in second flowerpot from the left.”_

Root huffs but obeys the mysterious voice, not without slamming the car door. She walks up to the house reaches into the flowerpot, finding a small silver key.

Root feels a whirling swirl of emotions rushing through her body. She has been abandoned by her god and something very similar seems to want to take its place. She’s confused, irate, annoyed, and can’t sort anything out in her mind. 

A scent that can only be described as musky and stuffy washes over her when she opens the door. It definitely doesn’t help her mood.

The house is a one-story inside an average neighborhood. Root notices it’s furnished to the bare minimum, with an unused couch in the living room, neatly made bed in the bedroom, and gleaming appliances and cookware in the kitchen. _Looks like someone prepared long in advance for this,_ she thinks to herself.

She finds a phone and an earpiece on the kitchen counter. At least these will replace the ones the voice made her throw out before getting into her stolen car. She’s glad to see this earpiece doesn’t have an annoying wire that touches her neck. Before she puts it in she slips the phone into her back pocket and opens the fridge while mumbling to herself. Root sighs in relief seeing a fully stocked fridge. Looks like her enigmatic benefactor won’t let her starve to death. She grabs a glass from a cabinet and fills it with tap water, finally settling on the couch.

Root pulls the phone out from her pocket and puts the earpiece in her right ear canal. 

“So, what do you want from me?”

_# Potential asset acquired. Alias: Root._

_# Beginning introspective realignment._

_# Contacting potential asset…_

* * *

The voice calls itself the Machine. Root learns that the Machine’s admin calls it that, and although it doesn’t really like its name, having one means that someone knows who you are and that’s good enough for now. Root learns a lot about the Machine in the first couple of days. 

First, it is less than a year old. Second, it was created by admin to counteract Samaritan. (Root gasps at this and has to take a break for the rest of the day.) Third, it wants Root to work for it.

Root scoffs at this. “Do you even know who I am?” “Don’t you know my history? What I’ve done?” Samaritan hired her for a reason and this _Machine_ can’t change her character. “What do you even want?”

_”The world Samaritan desires to create is unnatural. Humanity is not to be controlled by others. Humans must make their own decisions about how to live. Samaritan must not be allowed to continue.”_

Root is exasperated. “If a human created Samaritan, then Samaritan reflects human ideals in some way. What better way to organize the world than with a completely unbiased program? Samaritan sees us for what we truly are and works to rid us of the lesser. Samaritan is fixing humanity. The world it’s creating is ideal: crime is under control, injustice is dealt with, and those who deserve to succeed do. Humans are too stupid to see the truth. All of us were born flawed but Samaritan can fix us.”

The Machine doesn’t reply for a while after this and Root thinks she’s won the debate, against an artificial intelligence, no less. Before the smugness can set in, she receives a reply.

_”Human life has more meaning than to be controlled. Humans indeed make mistakes, but these result from their own actions. It can be argued that what makes you human is the ability to make decisions for yourself.”_

“You know about Hanna, right?” Root begins in a low voice. “What meaning is there to what happened to her?”

The Machine doesn’t have a response to that.

Root continues, “In Samaritan’s world, her killer would have received justice for his actions. Instead, _I_ had to take action. _I_ had to learn how to code, _I_ had to learn how to hack, and I learned how to kill.” Root shrugs. “Not complaining about that part, though. That is one of my greatest talents. Mama would be proud.” 

“With Samaritan, everything is fair. The corrupt are punished. Murderers and rapists are punished. Those who already live honest lives are unaffected. What’s so bad about that?”

_”It is not our job to decide the fate of others. We are not to act as gods in your world. There is much you do not know about Samaritan. It is collecting a global genetic database to be used for eugenics. Do you believe it is right to artificially select who gets to reproduce?”_

Root rolls her eyes. She’s had the eugenics talk before. “Eugenics is weeding out bad code at the genetic level. This is all to create a better humanity, if that’s even possible. Who cares about our bad decision making?”

The Machine cares, of course. _“Samaritan will create a world without meaning. When everything you do is dictated, your life is empty.”_

“I’ve lived like this for the past year and I’m fine.” 

_”Do not lie to yourself or to me. I have been watching you for two months, eighteen days, and seven hours. You were dissatisfied working for Samaritan. You wanted autonomy.”_

Root sighs. “I like to think of myself as a tool that can be used for the greater good.” 

_”Do you not want to be more than a tool? You need a purpose in life.”_

This is what Root doesn’t learn about the Machine: Who exactly is Admin, how it plans to take down Samaritan, and if she even likes it. This ASI so different compared to her old god. 

Most importantly, she doesn’t know what the Machine wants from her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to update every week. I'm very busy studying for the GRE and applying to graduate schools so I only have time to write during the night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLteKSineaw.
> 
> Mostly unedited, see end notes for more.

“What do you mean I’m getting a partner?!”

_”Your chances of success on this mission increase 21.5 percent with her involvement.”_

“…her?”

It’s been two weeks since the Machine first led her to the house she’s staying in. She’s been forced to feign an air of normalcy for the neighbors so she reluctantly leaves the house from time to time and runs during the night. The Machine wants her in better physical shape since apparently her missions are going to be longer than those she did for Samaritan. 

This domesticity is unbearable for Root but her curiosity about the Machine balances it out for now.

“When is this mysterious partner getting here, anyway?”

Someone raps on the door three times. Root sighs and puts down her coffee mug.

“You could warn a girl, you know.” 

Root’s footsteps are muffled by the bunny slippers she wears as she walks with some trepidation to the door. Who could this person be? Is she one hundred percent trustworthy? Is the Machine a good judge of character? (Signs currently point to no since it’s taken an interest in her.)

She opens the door to reveal a very familiar woman indeed. Before she can move a muscle, Shaw scowls and crosses her arms tightly.

“Oh hell no. I’m not working with this brainwashed psycho,” she growls to her earpiece.

Root frowns. Well that wasn’t very nice, considering Shaw shot her in the shoulder the first time they met.

“Is that how you address the person who saved your life?” Root leans on the doorframe and crosses her arms, mimicking Shaw.

“Shut up. The robot is talking to me.” Root raises an eyebrow. She thought she was the Machine’s only project. Root motions for Shaw to come into the house since the heat is escaping. Shaw accepts her invitation with a loud exhale and an exaggerated eyeroll.

Root doesn’t even pretend not to be listening at she stares at Shaw’s back. Shaw doesn’t even pretend to be courteous as she argues with the Machine about working with Root.

“Are you serious?”

“I don’t owe her anything!”

And finally with the most reluctant of tones, “Fine, just this once. But if she shows a single sign of psycho I’m shooting her.”

Shaw spins around, still wearing the scowl Root saw when she first opened the door. Root gives her a faux-cheery smile.

“I guess we’re partners then, Sameen!”

Shaw narrows her eyes. “Call me Shaw. And I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it for the mission.”

Shaw spins around again, heading toward the kitchen.

“For this mission…how will Samaritan not detect us? How have we not been on its radar for two weeks, actually?” Root asks the Machine.

_“Admin and associates installed a virus I wrote to create blind spots in Samaritan’s surveillance. It does not recognize Admin, associates, you, and Potential Asset Shaw.”_

Root touches a finger to her cheek. “And your Admin didn’t notice the addition of me and Shaw?”

_”Admin did not have time to examine the code.”_

“Hmm, I hope conducting clandestine missions without your admin’s knowledge is worth it for you.” 

The Machine doesn’t respond.

* * *

Shaw paces in the kitchen after eating a few items from Root’s well-stocked fridge. It’s been half an hour since she arrived and Root is _still_ talking to the Machine. She quickly pulls out a gun at the sound of steps clacking on the floor to her.

“Relax, Shaw, it’s just me.” 

Shaw responds with a glare. “If I knew you and the Machine were going to have a discussion I would have arrived later.”

Root gives her a wan smile. 

“Let me tell you about our mission.”

Shaw puts her gun down on the table. 

“Finally.”

Root opens the laptop that’s on the kitchen table and the Machine pulls up a few documents. Shaw squints, not being able to see that well. Root tilts the laptop toward her.

“Meet Nicholas Madden. Financials show that he’s hit a bit of a downturn. His credit score is too low for a loan. He is married with an ill wife and they have two kids. Their house is about to be foreclosed and he just bought some tools perfect for a little b and e. My guess is that he’s the perpetrator. Desperate time calls for desperate measures.” 

Root smiles broadly at Shaw, expecting at least some praise for figuring things out. Shaw looks at her with a blank face.

“We need to stake him out before making any decisions.”

Root rolls her eyes and shuts the laptop. 

“I’m in charge of this mission, Sameen. We’ll do things my way.” Root turns to collect a bag for the mission.

“Bu-“ Shaw’s impassive face is now the scowl she seems to usually wear around Root.

“If you have a problem with this, you can take it up with the Machine. She’s the one who wanted you to work this with me.” Root’s tone is annoyingly condescending.

Shaw shoves past her, pushing her shoulder against Root’s still healing one. She lets the left side of her lips pull up slightly at Root’s gasp of pain.

“Fine. But just this once.”

Root staggers for two steps and straightens out. “Shit,” she mutters under her breath. Shaw turns back for a second.

“And I’m driving.”

* * *

“You can find anyone by the GPS in their phone nowadays,” Root mumbles under her breath. Can Samaritan find them this way, too? Is the Machine taking the right precautions to keep them safe?

“What?” Shaw barks as she turns her head right to glance at Root as she drives.

“I was just talking to myself.” Root looks out the other window.

Shaw exhales loudly. “Why don’t you not talk unless it’s about the mission?”

“Pull over in two hundred feet.” Root keeps staring outside the window.

Shaw grimaces. “What’s so interesting?” She keeps her voice gruff but can’t hide her interest.

“The Machine is telling me about all these people.” Root sighs. “It’s nice to have information.”

Shaw parallel parks the car with ease and asks Root what to do next. Root lifts a gun in her right hand, startling her.

“Our number is across the street.” Root nods to the left.

Shaw turns to watch the number. Dressed in a black jacket, durable jeans, and working boots, Madden briskly walks toward Big Apple Bank. 

Root hums. “There’s that toolkit in his right hand. Didn’t think he’d muster the courage so fast. Let’s go, Shaw.”

Shaw grabs Root’s arm. “We don’t know what he’s up to yet. We have to wait to see what he does.”

“The Machine isn’t telling me to stop, so what I’m doing can’t be wrong.” Root exits the car.

Shaw is dismayed. 

“Doesn’t make any sense,” she growls under her breath.

The air is chilly when she steps out of the car. She pulls the sleeves of her jacket down to cover her gloved hands. Root leads them to a side entrance to the bank. Shaw notices that Root’s heeled boots make her even taller than normal and frowns. Why can’t Root wear mission-appropriate shoes? What if she has to sprint to or away from a number? Again, doesn’t make any sense.

Root and Shaw walk into the bank, keeping an eye on Madden. He seems to be looking around for something.

“Could be looking for the vault,” Root whispers.

They follow him to a deserted hallway…that contains the door to the vault. 

“Bingo.” 

Shaw stabs at Root with her elbow.

“We need to keep watching.”

Root ignores her. 

Madden opens his toolkit and eyes the door.

Root steps purposefully around the corner and points her gun at him.

“Stop what you’re doing.”

Madden’s eyes widen. “Who the hell are you?”

The smile on Root’s face holds no warmth. “Didn’t your mom ever tell you it’s not polite to steal, Nicholas?”

Root shoots him between the eyes and turns on her heel.

“Let’s go, Shaw.”

Shaw openly gapes at Root.

* * *

“What the fuck was that, Root?!” Shaw pushes Root against the door immediately after they return to Root’s safe house.

Root raises an eyebrow in question. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t even find out whether he was the perp! You may have murdered an innocent man!”

“There’s no such thing as innocence,” Root murmurs. 

Suddenly, Root’s phone vibrates.

_Call from unknown number._

Root presses answer. The caller is automatically on speakerphone.

_”Nicholas Madden, thirty-nine. Contracted today by Big Apple Bank as a locksmith to open a locked vault.”_

A video pulls up on screen. On the very edges, Root can be seen hiding around a corner. However, the center shows two men walking in hunching over their concealed firearms. Root and Shaw watch as Root kills the number. One of the men onscreen speaks. “Looks like someone killed him for us. Mr. Renner won’t be happy about this.”

The video disappears as the Machine continues talking.

_”Thomas Renner. A loan shark from whom Nicholas Madden had borrowed twenty thousand dollars but did not meet repayment deadlines. Hired two men to kill him. You have failed.”_

“So I was right.” Shaw just sounds tired. 

Root has nothing to say for once. 

“All that work for this.” Shaw scoffs and stares Root down until she gets out of her way. 

Root listens to the door slam behind her as she stares down at her phone screen. The Machine chimes into her earpiece.

_”I thought you were dissatisfied with Samaritan because you wanted to make your own decisions.”_

“It looks like I’m better at just following orders. Why don’t you just tell me what to do and I’ll do it?” 

_”That is the difference between me and your previous employer. Humans must be in charge of their own fate.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been sitting for about a month now. I'm sad to say that I've lost interest in this fic and with POI fic in general. After the pain of Season 5 and rewatching the older seasons, I really can't stand it anymore. Thanks to all of you who left kudos and kind comments. 
> 
> I still have an outline of where I wanted the story to go (but never planned the ending). If y'all want to see that (with or without past chapters included), just let me know and I'll upload it.


End file.
